Endless belt.



Patented Jan. 23, 1900. J. COLLINS.

ENDLESS BELT. (Application filed Max. 18, 1897.)

(No Model.)

. mmmm .mmm mm mmm NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JENNET COLLINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ENDLESS BELT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.'641,841, dated January23, 1900. Application filed March 18, 1897. Serial No- 628,1'79. N0model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ENNET CoLLINs,of Chi-- A principal object of theinvention is to provide a fabric belt which is devoid of crossseams,laps, lacings, or the like and which is more uniform in construction,pliability, and wearing qualities than endless belts as heretoforemanufactured. 'At the same time my invention greatly facilitates andcheapens the cost of manufacture, and I am, furthermore, enabled to makebelts of any desired width or number of plies or thicknesses withinreasonable limits.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, and the same will bereadily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section of tubular woven fabric inwhich the beltstrips are cut, one of the latter being shown severed andin proximity to the main body. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a beltshowing a transverse section of the same and showing the manner in whichthe interior of this particular belt is folded. Fig. 3 is a similarperspective of a belt containing three plies only. Fig. 4 is atransverse sectional view of one lap only of a still simpler form. Fig.5 is a similar section of a circular or rope form of belt formed fromthe same kind of a strip.

Heretofore fabric belts have been made by cutting a suitable fabric intolong strips in suitable lengths and widths and thereafter joining themeeting ends to make the belt continuous in various ways-'such,forinstance,as

overlapping and cementing, sewing, lacing, and otherwise; but belts thusmade have been very unsatisfactory owing to the impossibility ofsecuring at the same time a smooth uniform union and the requireddurability. More recently endless fabric belts have been made by firstforming an annular band of warpthread or skeleton of the belt of thedesired width and thereafter weaving in the weft-web or fillingtransversely of the warp, commencing at any given point and weavingaround longitudinally of the belt until the startingpoint has beenreached. In carrying out this method a loom is usually employed to weavethe greater part of the filling of the belt; but it has been impossibleto completely finish the belt by means of ashuttle-loom because of theimpossibility of passing the shuttle through the warp when the latterhas been nearly covered throughout its entire length. Usually a space offrom threeinches upward is left between the point where the weaving wascommenced and the point where it becomes impossible to longer pass theshuttle through the warp, and'this portion must be Woven in by handthatis, by means of a shuttle passed through thread by thread. This is aserious objection, among other reasons, first, because it requires arelatively long time to perform so tedious a job, and, secondly, becausethe weaving must be of necessity done by an expert weaver in order thatit may conform as nearly in character as possible to the machinework ofthe loom, and, finally, because the weaving by hand cannot, in fact, bemade entirely uniform with the machine-work, and

that part of the weaving woven by hand will be more or less irregularand the belt correspondinglyimperfect. Furthermore, this last method isopen to serious objection not only because it; requires a relativelylong time to perform the weaving,owing to the necessarily limited throwof the shuttles, but for various other reasons, which will hereinaftermore fully appear.

My present invention consists in making belts from a continuous tubularfabric which may be woven practically as cheaply as any ordinary form offabric and by the use of which the width of the belt or number of pliesof which it is composed are practically unlimited.

Referring to said drawings, wherein I have shown various practicalembodiments of the invention, A, Fig. 1, designates a tubular body ofwoven fabric made of'the full diameter of the proposed length of thebelt-that is to say, when the tubular body is caused to assume the formin cross-section of the endless belt it will be of equal measurementswith the latter in all interior directions. The length of said bodymeasured axially thereof may be unlimited, but in any event will besufficient so that endless transverse-annular band strips may be cuttherefrom of sufficient width to form the proposed belt.

The form of weaving used in the making of the tubular body is notstrictly essential, as will hereinafter more fully appear; but usuallythe warp threads or strands will extend parallel with the axis of thetubular body, but may be made to extend more or less spirally, ifdesired. On the contrary, the fillingthreads will extendcircumferentially in a direction at right angles to the axis of thebody, so that when the strips are cut from the said body the weavethereof will be on the straight as distinguished from on thebias.

The foregoingdescribed weaving is preferable, especially where it isintended to make the belt of a single strip, inasmuch as it ohviouslyrenders a belt less elastic longitudinally. If, on the other hand, it isdesired to form a belt having one or more strips inclosed within anouter strip, so as to form a belt having a plurality of thicknesses orplies, it may be desirable to use filling-strips cut on the straight toinsure the proper degree of normal elasticity and an outer coveringstrip or band formed on a bias in order to reduce the raveling of thebelt to a minimum after its working edges have worn through.

From the foregoing it will be understood that my invention is notlimited to any particular weave of fabric, provided it embodies thecharacteristics necessary to produce the belt described, so long as theweft-threads or those which run circumferentially of the tubular body orlongitudinally of the belt are substantially inelastic.

Having thus provided a suitable tubular body, I sever the sametransversely, so as to form a strip A of the proper width to afford thedesired width of the belt when said strip has been folded, as now to bedescribed.

In making the form of belt shown in Fig. 2 said strip A will be out of awidth approximately equal to four times the width of the finished belt.This strip will first be turned inwardly along its marginal edges ateach side thereof a distance or width equal approximately to the widthof the finished belt, and these two parts thus made two-ply will befolded face to face along the medium line of the strip, so as to producethe form shown in Fig. 2 in cross-section. The several plies of the beltthus formed may be either cemented or sewed together in any desiredmanner, the various methods of securing the plies together to form apractical homogeneous body being well understood in this art.Preferably, however, I use a rubber cement, which is applied to thestrip before the latter is folded, the strip subsequently folded intothe desired form, and the rubber thereafter vulcanized. \Vhen made inthis manner, the vulcanized rubber serves to effectually secure theedges of the strip from raveling, even though the belt be made of but asingle ply. I may, however, if found more desirable, employ rivets oranalogous devices in lieu of the cement.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a form of belt which is made in the same generalmanner, with this difference, however, that in this case the belt isformed of two continuous strips A A cut from different tubular bodies,the inner one, A, being cut from a body woven on the straight, and theouter one cut from a tubular fabric woven on the bias. In this instancethe edges of the outer strip are arranged to meet along the medium ofthe interior of the belt, at which point they are less liable to becomeloose or frayed out.

Fig. 4 is an obvious modification, in which a two-ply belt A is made inprecisely the same manner as that described in Fig. 3, with theexception that in this case the lining-strip is omitted and the belt istherefore of but two-ply thickness.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a construction in which a rope form of belt ismade from one of the continuous strips A. In this instance the two rawedges of the strip are brought together, and starting with saidlongitudinal raw edges as an initial or axial point the double fabric isrolled together longitudinally to form a continuous belt of circular orrope form. This construction will obviously be best formed by the use ofcement as the holding means, but other means may be employed, ifdesired, or found practicable.

In each of the foregoing constructions it is to be noted that the beltis devoid of cross seams or unions of any kind whatever, and it is alsoto be noted that the raw or cut edges of the fabric are in each instanceso arranged as to be least exposed to wear.

It is to be understood that the foregoing described modificationsconstitute merely illustrative and preferred forms of carrying out theinvention.

I claim as my invention 1. As anew article of manufacture, a wovenpower-transmission belt comprising a transverse section of seamlesstubular fabric having substantially inelastic weft-threads runningcircumferentially of the section, said section being folded or rolled toform a belt having a plurality of plies and the severed ends of the warpsecured to prevent raveling.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a woven power-transmission beltcomprising a transverse section of seamless tubular fabric havingsubstantially inelastic weft-threads running circumferentially of thesection, said section being folded or rolled to form a belt having aplurality of plies and the plies cemented together.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as myinvention I affix mysignature, in presence of three subscribing witnesses, this 16th day ofMarch, A. D. 1897.

JENNET COLLINS.

Witnesses:

ELLA L. MURTHA, CARL ALEX. VOGEL, T. D. HURLEY.

